Sun of Shadows/Chapter 7
This is the seventh chapter in Sun of Shadows and the seventh in part one, Light. Stars and Scales Geb lay awake that night. As much as he wanted to believe Lumeon, he couldn't ignore the fact that Elmen were turned into Shadows at this very moment. That everything would be reversed was well and good, but he had seen it. He had seen and heard how Nergal had been attacked. The transformation caused pain, a trauma, that he had also witnessed. It didn't matter if things would be reversed - the memories would last. In retrospect, he was hardly surprised that the Tribe of Light didn't understand that. If they stayed on this island like Perry said and didn't talk to the tribes at all, they had no idea of the world's problems. Here, where there was only their own tribe, they knew no real pain. In their eyes, they were doing their best, but that wasn't good enough. Somehow Geb had to convince them. But how? If only he could just - A sudden noise interrupted his thoughts. It was quiet enough that the others wouldn't wake up... but he was already awake, so he heard the dull sound of a person trying to get up. As if he were still asleep, he turned on the hard floor to see what was going on. Sedna and he had given the other two the bed, he didn't mind. Surprised, he noticed that the nocturnal illumination of the island wasn't limited to the outside world, the contours of each object within the room were surrounded by a white-golden glow as well - and also the outlines of each person. He was able to see feet and the thin, strong legs to which they belonged. What was Sedna planning to do? Geb waited and watched as she quietly left the room and closed the door behind her. Where was she going? Running away wasn't possible, they were on an island. Besides, she would have told them, right? He decided to follow her. He, too, stood up as quietly as his weight allowed and sneaked out into the hallway. Finding Sedna wasn't too difficult, as her silhouette stood out clearly from the darkness of the night. Determined, she followed the corridor in the direction that Geb had not expected: to where they had met Lumeon. There were no columns or pieces of furniture behind which Geb could have hid. So he had no choice but to sneak up behind the Elmin as quietly as possible, hoping that she wouldn't think of turning around. It worked quite well for a while, until... she suddenly stopped.´ Geb held his breath and didn't move. Don't turn around, he silently implored her. Don't turn around now... She went on. He released his breath. That was close. Carefully he crept on after her - he had to find out where she wanted to go. "Geb." He flinched when he heard his name. Sedna had stopped again and again she didn't turn around. But that didn't stop her from talking to him. "I know you're following me." "How -", he began. She sighed. "What are you doing here? You aren't Iris." "Iris isn't the only one who follows her friends when they do strange things," he replied, feeling his bottled-up emotions rise in him. "I'm worried about you, Sedna. You know, after everything that happened at the Water Tribe. You almost got killed and -" "And I'm grateful to you for helping me." She turned around and he felt that she meant everything she said. "I never thought anyone would go that far for me. That you risked your entire mission just to save my life..." Geb managed to make eye contact. She even kept it. "It's your mission too, Sedna. Do you remember, at Beak Bay? You decided to come with us. You already did when we met for the first time. At first, it was just to escape from your tribe, I know... but that turned out to be more than that." "I still think the prophecy is nonsense," she said honestly. "You all know I'm not with you to find the Hero of Light. That's not why I came with Acquois to join you again." Geb felt his heart warm. "But because we're friends." She smiled, for the first time in ages. "Exactly." "I'm sorry about the thing with your father." Until now, he had never dared to bring it up with Sedna. "That it was him who betrayed you to Marduk." Sedna was silent for a moment, staring at him in confusion, then in surprise. "Geb! Did all of you think that? That it was him?" "Wasn't it?" Now he was confused. "It was the scale color, wasn't it? I know that Ikatere wasn't there at the ceremony... but not because of that. The Elm who brought me to Marduk was Durius - he steered the upflowing river when we arrived in Ancamna Falls, do you remember?" She was right, there had been an Elm that had bluish scales like Sedna's father. All of a sudden Geb was very, very relieved. "Not even my father would have me killed," Sedna assured him. "Trust me." Geb nodded... and found that it was time to turn his attention to other things. "Where are you going?" She jumped, back in the present. "Hyperion... Perry wanted to talk to me." Geb remembered Perry's eyes on her and how she had left the room a little later. Had Perry been waiting outside to invite her? "In the middle of the night?" "He didn't want you to know about it. Lumeon supposedly knows nothing about it either." "And you trust him?" She snorted. "Who do you think I am? No, I want to know what it's about. He's got to have some reason to want to talk to me in private." "But...", he began, but then interrupted himself. "Okay. But I'm staying close." "That's nice of you, Geb. But I can take care of myself - Perry won't hurt me. You saw what he's like." That was true. Nevertheless, his vocation as a guard forbade him to let her go. "He doesn't have to know that I'm there." Sedna rolled her eyes. "As you wish. But don't get caught!" As if. But he just nodded silently and followed her up the stairs to the top floor and into another corridor. Finally, Sedna stopped at a door that appeared to be taller than most. More important, somehow. "Good luck," he whispered to her and with a curt nod Sedna disappeared into the darkness of the room. But Geb wasn't about to wait out there, so he sneaked in behind her. A quick glance was enough and he found a bookshelf without a back wall that he quickly pushed forward a few inches to take cover behind it. Here, Perry couldn't find him even with the glow of the island. He grabbed a few books and laid them on the floor next to him. Now he had a hole large enough to peek through and watch what happened. He saw Perry immediately. The big-winged boy stood in the middle of the room, beside a huge machine Geb couldn't name. There were several interconnected pipes pointing diagonally up to where the domed roof of the room was open a crack. The pipes were surrounded by two annular tracks to each of which a ball was attached at apparently arbitrary positions. "You came," the Light Elm said. "I did." Sedna stopped a few feet away. It was probably better that way, even Geb was suspicious of the situation. "Why did you want to talk to me?" Perry stayed serious. "There is something you need to know." "Just me?" Confused, he hesitated for a moment before recovering. "Your group." "Then you could have told all of us." "I wasn't sure if the others would understand. They should hear it from someone they believe. Even I felt how little you took my role seriously." Geb bent forward curiously, careful not to accidentally knock over the shelf. He was a little offended, but also especially interested now in what Perry had to say. "Very well," she answered without moving. "What's this about?" "Here." Perry pointed to the pipes and the chair below them. "Look through it." Sedna hesitated, but Perry made no move to force her. He just waited for her to follow his words. Finally, she walked over to him and sat down, her hands on the pipes and her head bent forward. Geb waited anxiously - what would she see? Of course, he couldn't see anything, he had to hope that Sedna would tell him later. Talk about it, he thought impatiently. What do you see, Sedna? The Elmin gave a surprised sound. "That's incredible," she breathed. "I can see the Diphda - the entire sea monster. And so close..." Geb was about to give up his cover. Was this monster approaching them now or was it a vision of the future? But why didn't Sedna feel nervous - and even excited instead? "Can you turn it?", she asked without looking away. "Of course, but slowly. Like this." Perry took Sedna's wrist and led it to another part of the machine. She turned a kind of wheel until the pipes, along with the chair she was sitting on, turned on a wide path and now pointed in a different direction. It happened so slowly that Perry could easily walk alongside. Once again, Sedna muttered to herself, about fish and words that made no sense. "There's the Deneb - hey, what are you doing?" She was startled and Geb saw Perry take his hand off her arm. What had he done? "I have never touched scales before," he said. "They... feel great, don't you think? Especially in this direction." As he made another move to stroke her arm, Sedna rose and took several steps back. "Maybe," she replied. "But next time, you warn me before you try anything like that." Perry ran his fingers over the fabric of his own sleeve. "I'm sorry." "So," she continued, her interest in the machine gone. "Was that all you wanted to show me?" "I... no. The telescope wasn't the important piece of information I talked about." Telescope. That's what he called this pipe machine that Geb still didn't know the function of. But that wasn't important anymore, only everything that would follow now. Perry slowly stroked one of the two circular tracks that surrounded the telescope. "Do you know what these represent?" Sedna also stepped closer to the tracks, but shook her head. "Imagine the telescope is Elysia," Perry said, and suddenly the machine started to glow. A blue-shining sphere of light had shrouded it, like the yellow-white glow of the island itself. On the globe were greenish and yellowish spots. Geb immediately recognized the largest of them: Xiro, the continent whose lower half had the shape of Terrai's head. Then this sphere must be... all of Elysia. Certainly even Iris had never seen this sight before. Perry continued, "The orbs on both tracks represent the moon and the sun. They move in real time - on the same route as they travel in the sky." Sedna walked around the construct and looked at it from all sides. "And what exactly is so important about it?" "This." Perry lit the two little orbs and they began to move on the tracks. No, not the orbs themselves, just Perry's own aura. He had to have the same powers of illusion as Lumeon. The lights circled around Elysia countless times, like in a time lapse. "In a few weeks," Geb heard Perry's voice without taking his eyes off the scene, "this will happen." The lights stopped abruptly. They were in a straight line, the moon orb standing exactly between Elysia and the sun. What did that mean? "A solar eclipse," Sedna said, sounding far less confused than Geb felt. "My tribe has documented many of them already." "Then you know what will happen. Elysia will be shrouded in darkness." Geb gasped. All of Elysia? "No," Sedna corrected. "A small part of Elysia will darken for about an hour, depending on how the celestial bodies are in position to each other." "And only in the deepest shadow will there be total darkness," Perry agreed. "But during this eclipse, this shadow - the umbra - will fall on a certain spot." One thought was enough and a circular area on the Elysia sphere of light disappeared. This spot was in the middle of the ocean, just below Xiro. There was nothing down there, unless... "Umbrath's prison," Sedna said bitterly. Geb remembered: Terrai had revealed its position to him back then and Geb had of course told his friends about it. But that it was actually so close to his home... he shuddered. Perry nodded. "It's not because of the duration of Lumeon's magic that Umbrath will be freed. Rather, the power of the total solar eclipse will allow his return." "When will that be?" "Like the prophecy states. On the brightest day - when the sun reaches its highest point over the southern hemisphere." "And the day in the northern hemisphere is the shortest." No wonder, then, that almost six months ago, nothing had happened. It hadn't been the right brightest day. Still, that meant they only had a few weeks left... "That isn't too far away," Sedna knew. "Do you already know how you'll defeat Umbrath?" Perry hesitated. "Lumeon has some suggestions." Geb didn't fail to notice how uncertain he sounded. "And do you think they'll work?" Sedna asked. "Lumeon is confident that I will kill Umbrath." Sedna groaned. "Of course he is, what else is he supposed to tell you? What do you think about your chances?" "I'll make it." "Because Lumeon said you will?" "Lumeon knows what he's talking about!" Perry retorted angrily. His voice went up a few pitches. "He raised me. He trained me. And he knows what I'm capable of." "He isn't the one who will fight Umbrath," Sedna said. "It's you. For whatever absurd reason. You will fight Umbrath, so you have to be able to judge your abilities. What use are Lumeon's empty words to you if you don't stand the slightest chance in the end?" "How dare you?" Perry began to tremble. Would he attack Sedna? Geb was about to come to her aid, but for now, Perry just seemed verbally angry. "Lumeon is powerful and wise. He has delivered the prophecy, and if he says that I'm the chosen one, I am. If he says that I will save the world, I will." "And if Lumeon says you should let innocent Elmen suffer, then you'll do that too?" Even in the strange glow of the island, Geb saw the angry glint in Sedna's eyes. "I didn't bring you here to discuss Lumeon -" "And my friends didn't travel halfway around the world to be rejected!" She took a step toward Perry. He might be the Hero of Light, but Sedna was clearly more intimidating. "I'm not asking you to talk to Lumeon. I don't even care what he thinks about this. But you, Perry, you are the chosen one - so you should also decide how you will save the world. If Lumeon wants to let Elmen become Shadows, then he can. But if you disagree with him, that's your keeper-damned right and he shouldn't stop you from doing the right thing." A long silence spread. Perry seemed as if he wanted to counter something several times, but his mouth kept closing again and again. With each attempt, his anger seemed to abate a little, until he looked at Sedna only in exhaustion. Not directly in the face, but still more than Geb knew from him. "What do you suggest?" Sedna groaned. "Your own opinion, Perry. Not mine. Lumeon or me, that makes no difference." "But -" "Listen," she said. "Acquois will come tomorrow to pick us up and take us back to Xiro. You'll be there when we leave the island - and you will either come with us or not. No matter what Lumeon says. Deal?" Perry hesitated, but finally nodded. "I'll think about it." Sedna grimaced. But she didn't protest, she couldn't expect more from Perry. "Good." "But until then..." Perry looked at the telescope awkwardly. "Will you show me some more stars? You sound so excited when you look at them." Sedna, for a moment, was at a complete loss for words. "Yeah, sure, why not." She stepped to Perry's side and sat down at the telescope. "But leave my scales alone." This telescope shows the stars somehow, Geb realized and had to smile. The eclipse might be important, but he already heard Sedna enthuse about the machine and its abilities again while Perry was beaming beside her. And not just in the face, he was really glowing a little. Geb was a little jealous of the two, he would have loved to look through the telescope at least once. But first, he had promised Sedna not to show himself... and second, he sensed he couldn't break this moment. This moment in which Perry showed real emotions for once and Sedna seemed as genuinely enthusiastic as he hadn't seen her in a long time. Silently, he withdrew from the wondrous room - the rest of the night belonged entirely to the stars. Category:Chapters Category:EE3 Chapters